Explore Classic Jewelry Design Elements: The Magic of Feathers

Explore Classic Jewelry Design Elements: The Magic of Feathers

Feather is a wonderful element that jewelry designers will never miss. It is carefully matched with various gemstones such as diamonds, pearls, and emeralds. Every piece of feather jewelry is dazzling and beautiful.

As a bird's feather, it is colorful, light and beautiful. It can not only shield wind and rain, keep warm flight, but also as a signal for mating. It can be said to be a combination of beauty and practicality.

Jewelry designers inspired by all things will certainly not miss this wondrous element. With a careful mix of diamonds, pearls, jadeite and every other color jewel, every single piece of feathered jewelry is dazzling and fantastic.

Colorful Feathers

China's use of feathers can be traced back to the ancient times, because of its light and flexible, easy to obtain and other characteristics, the ancient people often wear it as an accessory to the top of the head and so on.

By the time of the Warring States period, there was also a jewelry craft made of kingfisher feathers: Diancui.

| Production methods: First, make different pattern base with gold or lumpy metal, and then carefully embed the kingfisher feather on the base to make various jewelry objects.|

In addition to the jade lighting, Qing officials' official hats were often decorated with He peacock feathers that became a status symbol.

In the West, feathers are used for many purposes.

In the good old days of the late 19th century, wanton and luxurious living,perfumed clothes and gorgeous,and women wore lavish crowns and feathers as costumes to attract the attention of the men.

In the 20th century, feathers were added to the crown, and the prismatic feathers combined with the splendor of diamonds to create the Heron Crown sought by modern girls.

Since then, feather-themed jewelry has emerged one after another, of which the most famous is the Prince of Wales brooch.

The Prince of Wales brooch is the first Prince's Medal to succeed to the throne in Britain. The traditional medallion style is evolved from the "Peace Shield" used by Edward III in the competition. The three silver ostrich feathers wrapped on it are in memory of King John of Bohemia.

The brooch has now been given to a second queen by King Charles: Camilla

Today, feathers with a sense of lightness and fantasy are still sought after by the major luxury jewelry brands.

Boucheron

Feathers have always been one of Boucheron's favorite symbols.

In 1883, Frédéric Boucheron and brand principal Paul Legran launched the first Plume de Paon peacock feather question mark necklace inspired by peacock feathers.

Simple and generous round set, asymmetrical and open design, and a diamond-encrusted peacock feather at the end of the necklace. It's sparkling and glittering, and has already had a huge impact upon its release, making it a classic work of the brand.

In 1939, the brooch reappeared in a poster of Boucheron's, an elegant and lightweight feather dotted around a lady's chest, making it memorable.

Over the next 100 years, feathery-themed jewelry made more frequent appearances in its high-definition collections.

In 2015, Boucheron launched a marble feather question necklace.

In 2016, Boucheron used the traditional silk thread bead technology to launch the Plume de Paon peacock feather series relief necklace.

The feathers inlaid with diamonds are embossed on the pendant and look as lifelike and charming as dancing in the air from a distance.

In addition, diamond feathers, pearl feathers, gold feathers and other feathers of different materials, under the interpretation of Boucheron designers, are more different styles, showing the fashion style of contemporary women.

Chanel Chanel

"Even if you were born without wings, it doesn't stop you from flying," said Gabrielle Chanel, founder of the Chanel brand.

The light, free feathers have long been an iconic aesthetic symbol of the Chanel brand, and have frequently featured in its high-definition jewelry works.

In 1932, to revive the diamond market, Gabrielle Chanel launched its first diamond jewelry collection, the "Bijoux de Diamants", at the invitation of the London Diamond Trade Union.

The series of platinum or gold-gold inlaid white and yellow diamonds includes more than 50 works inspired by comets, the moon, the sun, feathers, fringes and other elements.

Among them, the diamond brooch with feather elements as the theme, the feather branches and leaves are elegant, light and bright, which has become a legend in the jewelry world, and is unsurpassed.

In 2017, in a nod to Ms Chanel's creative freedom and independence, and continuing the brand's signature feathers, Chanel created the stunning PLUME DE CHANEL collection in collaboration with Japanese craftsman Yuji Okada.

Light and dynamic feathers, well-defined branches and veins, especially the black lacquered feathers created by dill painting technology, are filled with mysterious atmosphere, which makes people intoxicated and unable to extricate themselves.

Van Cleef & Arpels 

The first thing that comes to your mind when you mention Van Cleef & Arpels's is its fire-spreading "clover" collection.

But Van Cleef & Arpels also has a penchant for feathers in addition to its classic "clover" collection.

In 2018, Van Cleef & Arpels reprised four fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and launched a fairytale-filled Quatre contes de Grimm collection, which is divided into four themes: 12 Dancing Princesses, The Golden Birds, Three Feathers and The Braemays.

Among them, the theme of "Three Feathers," with the color of a girl's heart, is the classic work of the series, with its original mosaic technique.

In particular, the two similar-looking feathers are neatly stacked on top of each other. One of the feathers is a secret, original mosaic of purple, pink and yellow sapphires. It's a fantastic, romantic color palette and natural branches that make you feel like you're back in a fairy tale.

The lower feather chest looked less colorful than the previous one, but the three diamond-encrusted feathers spiraled in a spiral and a yellow 2.51ct diamond punctuated by a sharp eye.

Jeweler Mikimoto

Recently, Mikimoto, a famous jeweler in Japan, launched a new season of its Feather collection, inspired by feathers.

Designers will inlay the brand's iconic pearls and integrate them with colorful treasures to create a series of unique feather jewelry.

The branches and leaves of the plumage, which are inlayed by purple sapphire, Palaibbi seal, tanzanian stone and other colorful gemstones, are thin and clear; a curved surface which is dotted in the middle is cut purple jade; the plumage is fantastic and inspirational.

Three diamond-encrusted feathers around a natural pink conch bead, a distinctive circular outline, a clever, hollow design, and a romantic yet distinctive touch.

Diamond and pearl-encrusted plumage, with a white Southern pearl adorned to the left, is asymmetrically designed to look like a wind in the air.

Spanish Jewelry Brand Magerit

Magerit, the Spanish jeweler known as "the gold-working world's greatest gamer", has also produced a range of very classic feather-themed gems.

In 2017, inspired by the Russian fairy tale "Swan Lake," Magerit created a highly romantic collection of fine jewelry, Hechizo, based on the intricacies of the fairy tale and the ingenious amalgamation of character and elements such as swan feather.

Magerit uses gold to shape characters, diamonds and assorted buns to perfect the fairy tale's classic scenes.

Magerit's jewels resemble tiny little sculptures with vibrant lines that resemble the genie of gold's evolution, opening their eyes with a breath.

To further highlight the difference between the characters' images and characters, the designer inserts colorful jewels into the part of the swan feather.

Each piece in this collection is a classic scene.

There's the gold ring, called "Odette," with diamond and sapphire feathers that blend seamlessly into the character, reminiscent of a princess turned into a human at dusk;

The Odile ring below depicts a fairy-tale image of the Devil's Daughter posing as a princess at a dance.

The feathered crown worn by the witch alternates between diamonds, black diamonds and rubies to give the impression of intrigue and evil.

"Chinese Light" CINDY CHAO

In 2016, in the Black Label Masters series, CINDY CHAO launched its first feathered work: Masterpiece No. XVI Golden Feather brooch.

The brooch, made from 1,000 yellow diamonds and each feather individually jewel arranged in a lightweight, bright palette, fetched HKD 8.7m at Christie's Hong Kong Spring Auction in 2017.

Since then, CINDY CHAO's feathered jewelry has proliferated.

In 2019, CINDY CHAO took inspiration from the French fairy tale The Green Bird to launch the Black Label Masterpiece III&V Royal Blue Feather brooch.

To create a silky, realistic feather, European artisans with more than 15 years' experience in titanium have spent more than 20,000 hours creating vivid shades of blue and white with more than 2,100 sapphire cubes in six different cuts. Their lavish overall look is superb.

In 2020, CINDY CHAO reintroduced the Black Label Masters series:  the fearless feather brooch.

The brooch is also titanium-based, with 17 Colombian emeralds of more than 1 carat on the front and rear ends of the feathers. The design and craftsmanship have made this work a big hit in the jewelry world since it was introduced.

In 2021, CINDY CHAO launched the Black Label Master Series Azure Shuguang Feather Brooch. Titanium's ultra-light plumage, with more than 2,000 different-sized sapphires creating a fluffy texture, and the shield-shaped Type IIA DIF White Diamond at the top of the brooch, was the finishing touch.

A series of articles exploring the classic elements of jewelry design:

Explore Classic Jewelry Design Element: The Bee

Explore Classic Jewelry Design Element: The Snake

Explore Classic Jewelry Design Elements: The Magic of Feathers

Explore Classic Jewelry Design Elements: The Rose

This article was first published in https://dissoojewelry.com/.

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